After a third day of protests and an afternoon that saw 14 Democratic state Senators leave the Capitol in protest of Gov. Walker's budget-repair bill, Madison has found itself in the national spotlight.
In an interview with WTMJ-TV, President Barack Obama said he is monitoring the situation in Wisconsin, and stressed the fact that everyone in the country will have to make adjustments to the new financial reality in an effort to avoid layoffs.
In reference to his own freeze on pay increases for federal workers over the next two years, Obama said such adjustments seem like ""the right thing to do.""
""On the other hand, some of what I've heard coming out of Wisconsin, where you're just making it harder for public employees to collectively bargain generally, seems like more of an assault on unions,"" Obama said in the WTMJ interview.
Obama also condemned vilifying public employees or blaming them for budget problems. In the interview, he called on the nation to remember the sacrifices public employees make for their communities.
The surge of protesting in Wisconsin's capitol has also elicited reactions from national leaders and conservative pundits.
Republican U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., compared the protests in his state's capital to those in Egypt that led to the resignation of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.
Rush Limbaugh, prominent conservative radio host, has also reacted to the budget situation in Madison on his daily program, calling the protests ""an anti-democracy movement.""
""What's the point of having elections if public sector union bosses decide your quality of life, your tax rates, and all that, because that's what's happening here,"" Limbaugh said. He also said the National Guard could step in to fill the roles of missing teachers.
Fifteen school systems in Wisconsin canceled class for a second day Thursday, and the country is now watching as the increasingly heated political fight in Madison plays out over the next few days.
